Passage 28: “End of Days” – Part 8
Kola Sanniya was sliced diagonally across his torso. He froze in place for a moment before falling over and exploding, leaving a bright white fire where he had stood. Ravana was thrown off his feet and landed several yards away on his back. Ten of his immense arms detached from his body and lay withered in the dust. The Rakshasa king roared up into the sky at this humiliation.
Yoroi then turned his head towards the Judges.
“Judges! Here are your jewels! Take them and this sword, and kill this bastard!”
He opened the chest and the nine Rathnayas flew out to their masters. Upon reaching them they reformed the Jewel Braces around their wrists. Yoroi’s eyes seemed to roll back. His body, overstrained from the power of the sword, dropped to its knees before keeling over completely. Steam and sparks flew the damaged armor. Gladius Crucis, freed from his grip, lay vulnerable near him…
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Siddhartha slowly took Sako's hands and looked up to her. His mind went back to the hilltop in Naphtali, and the marker for Sako's sister. The prophet couldn't guess how he knew this, but he sensed that there would at least be one happy ending in this epic. He looked up at Sako once more and spoke.
“She is safe...”
The eight Giants came up to the fallen prophet. Gotembara knelt down and looked to Sako.
“Go.”
Sako just stared at herself for a moment. So it wasn't all for nothing after all. Her sister was safe, they had their jewels back... there was only one loss, and that loss was not going to be in vain.
“This is for you” Sako whispered to Siddhartha. Her eyes gave a cold angry stare at Ravana.
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Obelisk stared down Ravana as he extended his right arm, pointing the blade at his opponent. He spoke to the other Judges but did not bother to turn his head.
“
Help the others...eliminate the rest, then come to my aid when the enemies are gone. I will hold off this...pretender.”
There was an odd inflection in his fused voice as he said the last word, an odd sort of resentment and disgust. It was gone in the next moment though, as he returned his full focus on the demon king before him. He made no further speeches, simply sliding effortlessly into a defensive stance with the Gladius Crucis at the ready. The time for talking was done. The time for battle had now truly arrived.
“No.” said Kira
Obelisk whipped around. Kira and the rest stood side by side with Obelisk
“We fight together.”
Obelisk frowned but said nothing for the time being. As long as he had the sword…
The remaining Sanniyas, the nine YakkaJins, Aimana’s three retainers, Sunniya’s ten retainers and Kalu Kumara’s seven Vanda-bisavun all assembled before Ravana, ready to guard their king. The nine Judges brought their Jewel Braces to their chests and transformed into their full armored forms.
“Judge of Reuben…. Levianger!”
“Judge of Simeon…. Dragonranger!”
“Judge of Judah…. Leoranger!”
“Judge of Dan…. Basilranger!”
“Judge of Napthali…. Cerynger!”
“Judge of Gad…. Griffinger!”
“Judge of Asher…. Tauranger!”
“Judge of Issachar…. Chelonger!”
“Judge of Zebulun…. Falconger!”
With that they charged toward Ravana. The Yakkini retainers attacked first; Kira and Israfil took three each, while the rest each tackled two. Signature moved from their jewel-charged weapons made short work of them. Next came the YakkaJins, one for each Judge:
Kiliana vs. Aturu
Ban vs. Aimana
Israfil vs. Kasyapa
Pack vs. KaluYakka
Obelisk vs. Sunniya
Sako vs. Saradiel
Ikeia vs. Vata Kumara
Kira vs. Kuveni
And lastly Comic vs. Kalu Kumara.
Comic was slashed from front and back, and landed hard on the ground. He raised his arms in defense as the black prince madly hacked away with his sword.
“This time you will die!”
Comic shrouded himself in shadows and vanished from view. He reappeared behind Kalu Kumara wearing the hammer knuckles and delivered a one-two across the chest and head. The demon retaliated by throwing a boomerang-shaped blade, cutting Comic twice across the sides. He dropped to the ground. Kalu Kumara leapt for the kill…
But Comic was ready with a charged KageHellaya. He hurled it like a javelin straight into the YakkaJin’s chest as he came upon him. He rolled away as his foe slid ungracefully across the ground.
“You were saying?”
Kalu Kumara stumbled. He took a large knife and hurled it at Comic in a final slight against him as he went down. Comic caught the knife and watched his enemy in satisfaction. The prince’s raging cry tuned out the explosion of his fallen body.
Subsequent explosions and dispersing of spirits indicated the defeat of the other YakkaJins by his teammates. The Sanniyas now ran forward like a wall. Comic joined the rest and together they powered up with their Rathnayas. They joined together in a large comet-like object and drove right through the Sanniyas’ bodies, destroying them in one quick blow.
The comet separated back into the nine. Now all that remained was Ravana.
“There’s no one to hide behind now” said Pack…
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*BGM plays*
(‘Warstar Shuurai (1)’ from
Tensou Sentai Goseiger)
Ravana charged forward like a bull, his footfalls leaving large dents in the ground. Quickly, he knocked Israfil and Pack down, but was hit on both sides by Kiliana’s boomeranging shield. Kira moved in zigzags and slashed Ravana's chest and back. Ban finally came down and delivered a fiery slash down the king's torso. Ravana flipped backward with surprising maneuverability and landed hard on his feet. The lacerations on his body glowed bright red and gave off steam.
“Intriguing.”
For some reason, Sako had a bad feeling about Obelisk. Something about him made her not trustful. But she'd have to deal with that later. Carefully aiming at one of Ravana's many heads, she fired several shots at once. Obelisk growled deeply in annoyance. Their efforts showed some effectiveness, but they failed to look at the long term picture. How were they to bring down Ravana if they were interrupted by his minions? The ignorance of these would-be heroes sent a pulse of anger racing through him, and his grip on the Gladius Crucis tightened in response. The sword glowed with a white light as he moved with lightning speed, slashing twice at the king's exposed back: once upward from bottom left to top right, and then again from bottom right to top left. He then ducked beside Sako and the others.
“
If, when the time comes, we are interrupted because you all felt the need to interfere...we'll rip your Jewels away from you ourselves.”
An aura of conflicted energies surrounded Obelisk as he shot forward, his own frustration and annoyance clashing with the serenity and holiness of the Gladius Crucis. He launched into a series of slashes and stabs with the enchanted blade, aiming mainly at Ravana's chest and many arms and necks.
“What the hell is that guy’s problem?” Israfil wondered aloud. Deciding to ignore Obelisk’s strange threat, Kira picked up Israfil as she used her whip to swing from a flying machine, then dropped him over Ravana. Israfil, charging up ShishiMugura with his Rathnaya, struck Ravana on the head…
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While fighting alongside Sarindhu, Cheiron stumbled across the injured Siddhartha, who had lifted himself to a sitting position against a rock. Sariputta then appeared next to him.
“You!” He had not forgotten the encounter with this saint when he and Sarindhu had tried to abscond with the pink Rathnaya. It now felt so long ago. He expected some kind of admonishment, but Sariputta offered the ex-pirate a white staff he had been using.
“Take this.”
Cheiron stared. “I don't understand...”
“You will.”
Sariputta lifted Sidhartha to his feet. The prophet felt the saint’s power strengthen him just enough for a slow walk. Together they moved toward the Highest Hill, leaving Cheiron alone to ponder the meaning of this exchange.
Sarindhu meanwhile continued cutting down demons. Ushas, Urmya and MIM attacked the towering palace…
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*BGM plays*
(‘Moukou! Ryuu no Meiou’ from
Kyukyu Sentai GoGoV)
Ravana shuddered as Sako shot one of his heads clean off his body. It landed on the ground, shattering like a juice-laden melon. Israfil's strike sliced apart one of his crowns. When Obelisk made his move, he absorbed several blows before grabbing the Judge's sword arm and kicked him in the groin and stomach. Obelisk was thrown aside. Ravana's body was showing signs of deterioration from the sheer power of the Gladius Crucis, but was still going strong.
“Do you think I would allow myself the same shortcomings as when I last faced that blade?”
Coming up from behind, Ikeia launched into the air and came down on Ravana with his jewel-charged twin swords. One of Ravana’s heads caught sight of the ambush and a hand grabbed Ikeia so that he landed in front of him instead.
“Surely you know better than that.”
He threw a strong punch to Ikeia's chest.
Obelisk got back to his feet from where he had been crouched and reaffirmed his grip on the Gladius Crucis. He rushed forward again: his left hand was surrounded by intense solar energies as he raised it and punched Ravana in the stomach, the force of the strike pushing him back. Obelisk next twisted his body and brought the holy sword up in a rising slash, aimed directly at one of the king’s remaining hands. Another limb dropped to the ground.
“You’re making it too easy!”
Ravana cocked an eyebrow on his main head. “Am I?”
The severed hand flew up and grabbed Ban's throat in a vice grip. Ravana held out his handless arm and shot a stream of poisonous blood at the Judges. Kiliana, Kira, Comic, Pack and Israfil were all showered until Sako used her Elemental Power to unleash a strong gust of wind, blowing it away toward the ground. Sako next shot an arrow to destroy the severed hand choking Ban.
“You gotta be kidding me!” cried Kiliana.
She blocked the rocks with her shield and released a surge of electricity to obliterate them. She then charged the shield with her jewel, released the blades and hurled it toward Ravana. Israfil used his own powers to conjure up some great mounds of earth to ram into the demon, and Pack fired HebiKalla in rapid succession. Kira charged up ToriKasyapa and flogged Ravana several times at long-distance. Comic ended the offensive with a blow from a charged UshiMitiya.
Ravana was forced back from the onslaught of attacks. All around the lakebed, explosions flew out. Ravana himself gushed out sparks from his damaged armor. Before the Judges could close in, however, Ravana conjured a rain of unworldly fire to sweep over everyone. Ban, being immune to this via his fire power, charged through the rain and swung RyuKaduwa at Ravana. Ravana merely grabbed him, smashed his head against Obelisk's, and snatched the Gladius Crucis from his hands.
Ravana perched atop a large rock on the ground and held out his long-sought prize. The blade that defeated him long ago would now bring down his enemies for good. The sword glowed a fiery white as the king of the Yakko pointed it toward the Judges and flashed ten big smiles.
A large crack formed Obelisk’s and Ban’s visors. With the sword ripped away, Obelisk stumbled back and raised one hand to his head.
“
Useless sacks of flesh...”
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Gotembara had been locked in a fierce duel with NaYakka. He was knocked to the ground near the edge of the dried-up lake. The cobra YakkaJu pounced and Gotembara responded with a swift stab, but he couldn’t escape getting bitten by the cobra YakkaJuu’s poison-laden fangs. Immediately Gotembara's body became varicose. He dropped to his knees and was kneed in the head by his opponent, making him roll down the slope to where the Judges were fighting. NaYakka disintegrated into a mass of cobras and vaporized.
Gotembara lay on the ground as the poison took its toll on his body. Turning his head, he saw the theft by Ravana of the Gladius Crucis.
“No… not now...”
Growling in agony, he got to his feet and hobbled over to the scene…
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*BGM plays*
(‘Taitei Ra Deus’ from
Chousinsei Flashman)
Swinging the Gladius Crucis in one stroke, Ravana unleashed a giant slash across the battlefield. SeiNephilim and the goddesses Ushas and Urmya went down, and MIM shrieked as his palace shell suffered intense structural damage. Hundreds of celestial host battling nearby were felled at once.
The Judges sparked heavily and crashed onto the ground. Obelisk rocked side to side on his back.
“
Get up! We cannot allow this...this poser to defeat us!”
“
I'm...trying...”
“
No...you do it, or you don't do it. No trying!”
“Shut up!”
The other Judges gave him odd looks for yelling at no-one, but Obelisk ignored them. Blood dripped out of the hole in his helmet from a gash below his left eye as he managed to get to his feet. KameKoora was used as a balance to bring him to a standing position as he stared down Ravana. He did not look at the others as he spoke, but when he did, his voice was...different. Not his own, perhaps.
“
We need to get that sword away from him. Time for you lot to step it up a notch.”
As the holder of the gold Rathnaya he had the power to manipulate and control the powers of the other Judges. His power was the Key. Up until now though, he had never taken advantage of that attribute. The time had now come.
Tendrils of golden energy shot out of the orb at the end of the scepter, shooting through the air to impact every other Judge in the center of their chests. Each found themselves revitalized, all injuries and fatigue gone and powered up with some of the gold Rathnaya’s power. After a moment, the tendrils vanished as Obelisk turned toward Ravana and smirked beneath his repaired visor.
“Be a good boy and give us back the sword before you hurt yourself” he threatened, his voice now returned to normal.
Ravana snorted. “Do you think you can handle this power?” He hadn't shown it, but he was in truth beginning to feel the effects of using such a weapon not meant for him. He shot twenty eye beams from his ten heads at the Judges, setting off more explosions and scattering them further. Obelisk ran through the attack in a mad run. Unimpressed, Ravana raised the sword and thrust it down toward Obelisk in a downward stabbing maneuver. Before he met his mark, however, he was stopped by a strong pair of hands....
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Gotembara caught Ravana's arm just as he was about to stab Obelisk. By now the saint had withered considerably from NaYakka’s poison, but his resolve remained unbroken. He stared down the Rakshasa and remembered the wars past, the lives lost, the blood shed, Jayasena his friend entangled in the darkness of because of this demon.... and because of himself.
“No more Ravana…”
He tore the Gladius Crucis, vibrating from the intensity of its own power, from Ravana's grip and quickly slashed downward across his body. Ravana yelled out as sparks, steam and blood flew, and rolled to the ground. But Gotembara, already weakened from his ordeal, could control the holy blade for long. Ravana got back on his feet and, grinning widely, shoved the blade into Gotembara's heart.
*BGM plays*
(‘Tachigataki Omoi’ from
Seiju Sentai Gingaman)
Gotembara’s insides went ablaze from the power of the sword. With an ear-splitting yell, he began to disintegrate before everyone's eyes. Ravana maliciously twisted the still-lodged blade to intensify the pain. As Gotembara evaporated, he looked up into the dark sky. His mind flashed back to a sunny field atop a hill. Green grass, golden sun, fair maidens frolicking. The world was young. The ten Giants were together. And Jayasena was by his side.
With that last thought, Gotembara vaporized completely. Small drops of cleansing flame rained down on the ground.
“Gotembara-hamu!”
This was the last straw. Sako poured all her jewel’s energy into KazePihiya. Tightly gripping her blade, she swung it and released a powerful gale. Then she ran behind it, to give Ravana as many blows as she could.
Comic and Pack stood stock-still, absorbing the impact of Gotembara’s act. As the heavenly fire began to rain down and Sako charged, Comic phased out of sight as he became shrouded in shadow.
He reappeared high in the air, hammer fists over his arms. Charging them up with his jewel, he threw as many punches as he could toward the demon king. Pack charged up his cannon and fired a large single burst of energy to the waist.
Aiming their swords at Ravana, Ikeia and Ban powered up their weapons with silver lunar energy and fire respectively. However, before they could attack, Ban felt a hand grasp his right shoulder. Another one grabbed Ikeia’s right arm at the wrist. Ikeia's eyes widened as he saw who they belonged to…
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Yoroi seemed to be struggling just to stay conscious, but there he was, helmetless and half-kneeling. He was breathing heavily, as if trying to keep from passing out. He was half-gone already, but by sheer will he had managed to keep himself from being knocked out completely.
“Aim...for his...fist” he whispered, and began charging up the energy he had left in his armor’s reserves.
“This...is for Siddhartha. And Gotembara. And everyone else you've hurt” the tired warrior said quietly in determination. He channeled his collected energy into his gun.
“Now!” He fired the gun, and Ikeia and Ban let forth cutting waves of energy. Having spent the boost of power, Yoroi dropped back down, but was caught by Ikeia.
“Are you ok?”
Yoroi just smiled weakly as he once more began to slip away…
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Ravana stumbled backward from Sako’s gale, but managed to knock her down before she could cut him. But he missed Comic and Pack, and was thus hit several times on the front and once on the side. Next came Ban, Ikeia and Yoroi’s combined attack, and then Kiliana, Kira and Israfil. They raced to and fro, delivering finishers to the Yakko king. Finally Ban came running in and severed the hand holding Gladius Crucis with a slice from his blade. Ravana roared and smacked Ban away. They all watched as the sword flew into the air... and was caught by a glowing figure plummeting down from the depths of space. Ravana was slashed across his side by the newcomer, who upon landing took the shape of...
*BGM plays*
(‘Ikkan Kenjo Instrumental (2)’ from
Samurai Sentai Shinkenger)
“Alpha!” exclaimed Israfil.
Alpha did an about turn to face the Judges and Ravana, Gladius Crucis vibrating intensely in his hand.
“You...” growled Ravana.
“Everyone!” cried the alien. “You’ve brought more doom to this world than you realize! I’ve taken care of that threat, but it won’t be gone unless this war ends.”
He pointed a finger to Ravana. “And that means destroying you, Ravana!”
A faint smile formed on Obelisk's lips as he stepped forward, his helmet winking out of existence to show the alien his face.
“Alpha...I was wondering where you'd gone off to.”
“I’m glad you’re still alive” Alpha sincerely responded.
“I see my gift to you did some good.” Obelisk's eyes darkened to a murky green-black as he shifted his gaze to Ravana.
“What're you waiting for, an engraved invitation?” he asked the other Judges. “Keep fighting!”
Alpha was likely the only one to be able to understand the mirth in those words. His eyes gradually lightened back to their usual emerald green, his pupils dilated to almost twice their normal size by the adrenaline generated from the thrill of battle. There were only two people here he felt he could trust with his life: Alpha and Yoroi, because of the time they had spent safeguarding him during his illness. When Obelisk finally ascended, he would not forget these beings from the stars.
Cheiron arrived on scene bearing Sariputta's staff. Sarindhu and Chebar had led their forces in a successful push through the enemy lines. The battlefield was littered with blood and dead bodies from both sides. Now the pirate stood before Ravana with renewed vigor, having witnessed the surprise return of Alpha.
“It ends here, Ravana!”
He pointed the glowing staff at the king. He then called for all Judges to come to his side.
“Give it all you've got!”
The Judges came together and gathered the energies from their respective Jewels into the head of the staff. A large multi-colored sphere blossomed from it.
“Useless...” said Ravana, shaking his heads. He started moving forward. The sphere grew larger as more energy was added. At last it launched itself from the staff past Ravana and splashed onto Gladius Crucis, infusing it with its energy. Alpha felt the sword jerk. His hands shook uncontrollably as he clutched the sword handle. A mighty roar left his lips as he ran to Ravana and swung the holy blade in an arc directly at Ravana's chest…
But so great was the sword’s power that he could not control its path. The swing lacked proper strength. With his remaining left arms, Ravana smacked Alpha high into the air. The sword left his hands and went along with him, then plummeted down and stabbed itself into the ground some distance away, still charged with the Rathnayas’ energies. Alpha landed in a heap and lay still.
“Alpha!” yelled Israfil and Obelisk. But Ravana fired another round of energy beams from his eyes, sending the Judges and Cheiron flying away. Laughing triumphantly, Ravana began moving toward the sword…
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Ban held his torso as he lay on the ground. Ravana was approaching the sword. In a matter of moments he would finish them off. It was over…
No. A voice seemed to echo in his head, telling him to rise. It was coming from the sword itself. Ban looked at the sacred weapon. The voice kept encouraging him to stand and continue the fight. Slowly he began getting on his knees.
“Who…. What are you?”
“Stand up Ban! Take me and slay this demon!”
“Why me….”
“Because you need to.”
Ban didn’t understand at first. He then remembered back when he first arrived on this world. Since then he had been on a long, wild, harrowing adventure. Slowly but surely, he had broken out of his shell of agnosticism and arrogance to emerge with a belief in something higher than himself; that there were things to truly live for, to fight for.
His past exploits flashed before him: his first battle, meeting Mahasona, the last clash with Gad, solidifying the kinship with the Judges, his death, his resurrection and Mahasona’s salvation, urging the others to keep the faith during the Sanniyas’ game.
He was a changed man. Everything now came down to this moment. By conquering Ravana and the Yakko, he would conquer himself.
Ban stood and released a column of fire between Ravana and Gladius Crucis. Ravana turned and cast a furious look. Ban leapt toward the sword, slashing across Ravana’s front with RyuKaduwa. He somersaulted and landed his feet, ripping the sword from the ground.
“No…” Obelisk muttered to himself. He needed to bring down Ravana.
“
What are you doing?! Get that sword!”
But Ban was already facing Ravana. Gladius Crucis and the ignited RyuKaduwa were both at the ready.
“What’s this? The non-believer is the one who tries to end me?”
“Ironic, isn’t it?” said Ban.
“Come on, Ban!” called Comic. The others minus Obelisk joined in, lifting Ban’s spirits evermore.
“You’ve made a lot of trouble for these people, Ravana, much less me and Havok. I just might enjoy finishing you.”
“You think so, don’t you? Look around. Will it have been worth it? This world was destroyed long the Judges returned. Its soul was lost. You were already too late to save it.”
“It’s never too late. Canaan as it is may die today, but tomorrow it will be born again. Redemption is possible!”
“You of all people don’t believe that!”
“I do! I’m proof of it!”
Ban assumed an attack pose.
And today I… we… are saving tomorrow from you!”
*BGM plays*
(‘Yuuhi wo akakusome, Sa Kauler wa tatsu!’ from
Chousinsei Flashman)
They stood before each other for a moment. Dust swirled around them and dropped back down, as if a signal to commence. Ravana used his eight arms to gather up various weapons strewn aside by the soldiers and ran to Ban. Ban did likewise, brandishing both swords. Bright light and roaring fire from the two obscured the combatants from view as they clashed. Ravana swung, thrust, and stabbed his weapons in a relentless frenzy at Ban. Ban did his best to counter, but could not stop them all. Sparks flew off his back, arms and legs. He ducked as a massive swing just missed his neck. With a loud yell he aimed for Ravana’s heads and arms. One by one he began hacking them off, taking hits, and then hacking some more. Some of the severed heads and arms attacked by themselves, but Ban skewered and sliced them apart respectively. Ravana did not seem to feel the blows, but continued cutting and slashing away.
Finally, only two heads and one pair of arms remained. Both Ban and Ravana knelt down on one knee, catching their breath. Ban was almost beyond his limits. But the power of his comrades’ jewels, their belief in him, and his belief in himself urged him to keep going. One more time he swung. The last auxiliary head was removed and shattered on the rocks. Ban touched the two swords together. Gladius Crucis’s power plus the combined jewel powers fed into RyuKaduwa’s fire, making it burn brighter than ever. Likewise, RyuKaduwa’s power added into Gladius Crucis. Ban lunged forward and impaled both blades deep into Ravana’s torso in a shower of steam, sparks and blood.
The light and fire display disappeared, bringing the two back into view. Ravana gave a roar that resonated throughout the planet. The two swords remained lodged in him, Ban having let go in exhaustion. The other Judges rushed to his side and watched as explosions rocketed off Ravana’s body. The energy from the Gladius Crucis splashed out over the ground, setting off larger explosions all around. Ravana gripped Gladius Crucis and, to the surprise of everyone, absorbed the combined jewel power into himself. He tore both swords out and stabbed them into the ground.
The Judges looked at Ravana. He looked beaten, but he clearly had one more trick up his sleeve.
“You will not save tomorrow, Judges… for tomorrow will not come!”
“What are you talking about?” Pack demanded.
Ravana grew into a giant caped figure. A large intimidating helmet with bull and deer horns adorned his head. The rest of his body was likewise decorated with attributes of the Rathnayas’ respective TharaJuus. In his hands were a giant scimitar and a great twin-headed spear made from the jewels’ energies.
He kicked away the remains of the castle and stabbed the immense spear into the ground. Several waves of energy at a time spread from the spear through the air and ground, across all of Canaan. The Judges were knocked down and sparked heavily. Explosions went off all around them and the soldiers fighting.
“Tomorrow will not come, for today I will destroy this planet!”
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“How did – how?!” Obelisk spluttered, not daring to believe that Ravana now seemed stronger than ever.
“Now what do we do??” cried Kira.
“What indeed?” asked Ravana rhetorically in a booming voice.
The spirits of the YakkaJins, Sanniyas, and fallen demons from the present battle were swirling around beneath the clouds. Ravana opened his now-gargantuan mouth and swallowed them all, increasing his power even more. The spear continued releasing waves of energy at constant intervals, continually knocking the Judges down as they tried to move forward.
“What is it doing?” asked Sako.
Comic studied the giant spear. As it slowly buried itself deeper, the waves would emit again. This caused the ground to fissure, leaving deep crevices all around. Large stones, buildings and trees hit by the waves were broken to pieces. The deepest cracks even began spewing out magma.
“Those waves are going through the surface” he explained quickly. “It’s going to tear the whole planet apart!”
“We have to take the spear out then” said Israfil.
“But how?” said Kiliana.
The waves went out again. Ravana raised his sword and swung it down on the Judges, but was suddenly blocked by Ushas’s scepter. She and Urmya came between the Judges and Ravana. Ravana fired energy blasts from his mouth and eyes. The goddesses defended with their shields and went forward. Together they began to duel the demon king.
Ban retrieved RyuKaduwa. “Forward!”
They had been bought some time. Together they ran toward MIM, who was ambling after Ushas and Urmya. Ravana knocked Urmya down near the embedded spear as it began emitting more waves. Urmya quickly raised her shield and defended the Judges from getting thrown again, only to be thrown down herself. Sparks flew off her shield from the energy’s impact.
“Urmya!” called Ikeia. She turned her large head toward the nine.
“We need to remove that spear!”
Urmya nodded and rose to one knee. “
Come inside us.”
Kiliana, Ikeia, Comic and Kira beamed inside Urmya, while Ban, Israfil, Pack and Sako did the same with Ushas. Obelisk leapt onto MIM and directed him to keep Ravana occupied. While the two of them wrestled, Urmya tried removing the spear by hand. The spear reacted by shocking the goddess with is energy and sending yet more tremors through the ground. Ravana slashed outwardly across Urmya’s torso while shoving MIM aside, then fired energy blasts at Ushas before she could defend.
“The spear is almost gone!” said Sako.
“Comic!” called Israfil. “Try to keep him occupied. I have an idea.”
While Urmya directed Ravana’s attention, Israfil addressed Ushas.
“Ushas, shoot your tail sword near the spear. Maybe we can shake the ground up ourselves and dislodge it.”
“
Are you sure you can do this?”
“I think so.”
“
Very well.”
Ushas took her tail sword and drew it over her antler bow. Israfil channeled his Elemental Power, in turn increasing the goddess’s. Ushas fired the shot, hitting the mark right next to the burrowing spear. More tremors were sent, but these were negated by tremors made by the sword. The ground undulated around the two weapons until the spear was forcibly spit out by the ground. Urmya now came in and cut in two with one hew of her roc wing-sword. The pieces landed on the ground and shattered into oblivion.
Ravana uttered a wrathful roar. Ushas and Urmya stood together again as the demon king thundered toward them. Urmya fired her sword via her griffin wing-bow, but this was deflected away. Ushas tried the same to no avail. Ravana thrust and slashed relentlessly. The goddesses fought back with scepter and club. The Judges infused them with as much of their Power as they could, giving them a further boost. But even this was not enough. As the heroes’ began tiring, their desperation to end this grew evermore.
“We can’t keep going on like this” said Pack.
“Well what else can we do? This guy just won’t let up!” said Ikeia.
Ushas went down on one knee. Ravana punched her across the face and stabbed at Urmya. MIM came up again and fired several of his smaller cannons, buying the goddesses enough time to scramble away from the king.
“What now?” asked Ban. No one seemed to know.
Ravana twirled his scimitar in his hand and grinned. Using the power gathered from the Yakka spirits, he released a powerful blast of energy from his mouth, sending the TharaDeviyos crashing down…
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Cheiron hurried across the shore of the lakebed until he was right below the four titans. He raised Sariputta's staff, which fired several white flares. Understanding the signal, the goddesses and tortoise gathered together. Ushas and Urmya split into their component beasts and MIM folded into its dagoba formation. The other eight attached on their designated positions, forming the Thara Dagoba. As Ravana launched a slew of attacks whilst walking toward the great edifice, the Dagoba fired back its own volleys, absorbing each blast.
SeiNephilim and the surviving celestial aerial fleet lined up around Thara Dagoba and donated their power. As Ravana closed in, it fired one final blast at point blank range. Ravana impaled his scimitar into the top of the structure. He shrieked and exploded right on top of it, the plume mushrooming like an atomic bomb. From all over the planet this plume could be seen. A wave of energy swept across the planet, destroying all the enemies that couldn't get away.
But Thara Dagoba had survived. As the smoke and ash cleared the people below could see it standing tall over the Simeonite plain. Stunned awe kept them mute for a moment; finally resounding cheers erupted all around. Ravana was defeated, the war was over, Canaan was saved…
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Siddhartha knelt atop the hill with Sariputta at his side, witness to the final destruction of Ravana, king of the Yakko. With this act, the war was over. Canaan was safe and the Celestial Plane was pure again.
“It is done” he said quietly.
“As is your time here” said Sariputta. The words may not have been the most comforting, but he said them with sympathy.
“Where is Dargel?” the prophet then asked. “I should like to speak to him one more time.”
Sariputta nodded and left to fetch him…
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“Hey, are you ok?”
He blinked, suddenly coming back to the world of the living. The first thing he noticed was the relative quietness to his dream…whatever the dream had been about, in any case. He couldn’t remember much other then that it was noisy and violent.
The second thing he noticed was that he was lying on a cold hard floor. He attempted to sit upright, but a sharp pain shot through his back.
“Augh!” he winced, as a pair of hands caught him, and laid him back down softly.
“Hey, take it easy” PRF7 said, as he looked down at Dargel. “Falling three floors down into the lobby of the Hall of Records isn’t something you just walk away from.”
“But then, sitting on the rails isn’t something smart people do” said another voice. Dargel looked to his right and saw Zyon kneeling next to him. Dargel smiled weakly. He was so happy to see them. He didn’t know why…he had just been talking to them before the accident…why did it feel like so long…
“Sorry” he whispered sheepishly, “Guess I don’t know my own strength”
“Strength has nothing to do with it” said Techni, as he walked over from another part of the large library lobby. He gave Dargel an incredulous look. “Those things aren’t meant to support that kind of weight.”
Dargel sat up again, this time ignoring the pulsating pain running up his back.
“Lay down!” PRF7 said, as Dargel cautiously stood up.
“I’m fine, really!” Dargel smiled. “Folks like us should shrug these things off easily, right?”
“He’s up already?” said yet another voice, this one female. Dusty walked over to the group, Aqua and Eomer behind her. “You ok?” she asked Dargel.
“He’s a little delirious” PRF7 interjected, before Dargel could speak up for himself. He shot PRF7 a slightly dirty glance. Dusty seemed to enjoy the remark, as she giggled. Aqua however, seemed to give a slightly more serious expression, although still one of amusement at Dargel’s expense.
“A bad jolt to the head, huh?” she asked.
Dargel nodded. “I…think I need to go walk it off”
“Well…if you’re sure…” PRF7 let go of his shoulder.
Another voice called. “Hey, Eomer!”
The man behind Aqua and Dusty turned around, to see Abe and Boz. Abe spoke up.
“Where have you been!? Omega has been looking all over for you!”
Dargel didn’t stick around for the conversation, but rather limped away, deciding he needed to clear his head. Something didn’t feel right. He maneuvered down through the open lobby, and took a right into one of the hallways, which was littered on both sides with books, scrolls, CD cases and other technological information devices. As he reached the end of the hallway, he turned to his left to see…
…Nothing. It was empty. The shelves had nothing on them. Dargel blinked. He could have sworn this area had been full. Why wasn’t there anything here?
“Because you don’t belong here” said a hauntingly familiar voice. Dargel turned around to see a younger version of himself. He who had been he at the beginning of all this…all of what? What had he just thought about?
And then the memories came back. They flooded into Dargel’s mind. All of the horror. The despair. The guilt and sorrow. His face changed from one of confusion to one of numbed sadness…an expression he always seemed to wear.
“You’re running away, trying to hide.” the younger him said.
“…Is that so wrong?” Dargel whispered, looking away from the other him.
The younger him seemed to look away too, a little ashamed of himself. “Hiding from reality? From your problems? I think so. You’re wishing for a world that isn’t yours. Friends that aren’t yours. They aren’t the people you knew. Only reasonable facsimiles. They don’t know you. They haven’t grown into the people you knew. We’re only kids. We’re not heroes.”
An uncomfortable silence reigned for a short moment, until the elder of the two spoke. “Neither am I…”
“How many times have you put on that suit to save people?”
“Not…not like that” Dargel shook his head. “I…on the inside…” he tried to get the words out, “I…don’t think I want to do this anymore…”
The younger him looked up at him, with a slightly sad expression. “You…don’t mean that…”
“Every day…every day I have to get up and fight unspeakable horrors that threaten all of existence. Every day I have to make choices that determine who lives and who dies. And sometimes I choose wrong, and lots of people die. And I let everyone down. And….and I’m just responsible for so much. And it never ends, ever. No matter how many times I save the day, they keep coming, and…” his voice cracked, “…and I can’t quit because then everyone dies. It never ends…and…and I just want to rest…”
Dargel spun around and slammed his fists into the wall. “Why can’t I ever be happy!?”
More silence.
“I…” Dargel continued in a low tone, once he got control of himself again, “…I’m not a hero after all. I’m just some poor soul who got in way over his head. Who got lost in a horrible world of monsters and sin. Who watched everything he loved get ripped away from him. Who was never allowed to rest, even for a moment, because if he did, he would regret it.”
“Your inner monsters would catch up to you” the younger him replied. “Eventually you simply fought to keep your mind off them”
Dargel slumped down to the floor, still facing away from his younger self. He nodded. “Except they came anyway. And there are so, so many of them. And I’m tired of it. I’m tired of all the hate. All the sorrow. And I'm tired of all the damned killing. It’s destroying me. Yet…I keep saying that, and no matter how many times I try to start over, the past never lets me.”
“And so you run away. To a world where none of it ever happened. Just like Techni wanted to do.”
The elder Dargel blinked and turned away, considering the thought. He had been so angry at Techni when he had found out what and why Techni had been planning.
“Maybe everyone has doubts and fears. Maybe everyone, deep down, has a bit of that frightened child” the younger Dargel replied. “And maybe it’s ok to say enough is enough, and let someone else deal with it for awhile. You can’t control the universe. You died. You’re a ghost. But I think…you’ve been a ghost so long that you can’t even remember what your unfinished business was.”
“No, I do” Dargel replied, “It’s just that I don’t have any reason to finish it now”
“You still have a few loose ends to tie up though”
“Yes”
The older Dargel turned back, but instead of the younger Dargel he saw Sariputta standing before him…
No… above him.
“Dargel.”
Yoroi felt himself be lifted to his feet by the saint. Sariputta pointed off to his left. Dargel turned, and saw…a hill. Siddhartha.
“You are called for” said Sariputta.
Not fully comprehending, Yoroi tiredly limped with Sariputta to the hill and up the slope to meet Siddhartha. He looked away from the prophet upon remembering, too ashamed to look him in the eye after what had happened.
“I…can’t do this anymore…” he whispered quietly. “God…I’m so sorry, Siddhartha…”
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The Judges had left the Thara Dagoba and stood in the center on the battlefield. The taint of war had left its mark, with the Highest Hill and the surrounding area having gained an almost palpable taint of darkness. It would fade bit by bit in time, but the bloodshed that this place had seen...it would never quite be the same again.
A pulse of invisible force left Obelisk’s body as he removed his armor. The Gladius Crucis was still stabbed in the ground. He went toward the blade and took it in his hands. As he stood there, facing the rising sun, those present who had known the old Issachite aristocracy would know the resemblance of him to his family. The black-clad heir drew in a deep breath as a light breeze ruffled his shoulder-length hair, which he had pulled back into a tight ponytail. The golden highlights shone clearly as light returned to the planet, and when he turned to the face the masses of soldiers and warriors present, his green eyes flickered to gold for a second before returning to normal.
“Alright...time for all of us who don't belong here to go home.”
It was a simple statement, but the power behind it compelled people to listen to him. The Issachite leaders had possessed something similar, mainly when directing troops or at a particularly heated moment in the midst of a battle. After a moment of stillness, Obelisk searched and found the ornate sheath of the Gladius Crucis lying discarded. He secured it on his back and slid the sword inside, then made his way with the other Judges over to Yoroi and Siddhartha…
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Siddhartha placed a hand on Yoroi's head.
“Despair not. Heaven and Canaan are safe, and thus my task is ended.”
Sariputta waved his hand at the expanse of scorched ground before them.
“There is but one thing left to do.”
The Judges, Vibhishana and Alpha came to the hilltop. Cheiron, Sarindhu and Chebar appeared soon after. Najmuddin and Garasu too stood nearby. Chebar sought out Kira and held her close.
“Hold the staff out” said Sariputta to Cheiron, indicating the white staff now in Cheiron's hands. Cheiron looked downcast as he examined the staff. Siddhartha gathered the last of his strength to turn to face the small audience before him.
“The war ends here. Rebuild your homes, wherever they may be. Bring the Tribes together again, and lead them well.”
Siddhartha closed his eyes and pointed his pale face skyward, as if expecting approval from the gods. His body, mortally pierced by the Gladius Crucis, finally expired. As though by a miracle, the patch of ground the fallen prophet lay on turned green with fresh grass. Cheiron raised the staff and stabbed it into this patch of ground. Israfil, suddenly inspired, touched the staff with ShishiMugura. The staff became the trunk of a small white tree bearing rich almonds. Over time, the life in this patch would spread across the entire planet and replenish the life of this world.
Not long after a host of celestial beings, including the remaining eight of the Ten Giants, ascended the Hill. Leading them was the one whom had brought Yoroi to Ahasa. He nodded a greeting toward Yoroi and then addressed everyone else.
“
We thank you for defending this world and heaven from the Yakko. They have not been fully destroyed, nor will they ever be. Vibhishana shall replace Ravana as their king.”
Vibhishana came forward and joined the host. “My brother was a zealot. He splintered our clan to usurp Vesamunu-raja, and almost destroyed the world to conquer it and Ahasa. I shall keep my brethren from overstepping their bounds in such a way again for as long as I reign. You have my word.”
“
We shall leave you to it. And now, we ask for the return of the sword.”
Everyone turned to Obelisk, who gaped at the being.
“You can’t be serious.”
“
I am.”
“After all this, you’re just going to take it back? We earned this!”
“
The sword shall be brought to you when it is needed. You needed it to defeat Ravana. Now it must be placed back.”
“And who’s going to get it the next time?”
“Obelisk” sad Yoroi sternly, standing on one side. Comic and Pack stood on the other with equal admonishing looks.
“Don’t tell me I’m the only one here” said Obelisk. He went around his fellow Judges. “We faced GaraYakka and HiriYakka, the eighteen Sanniyas without our jewels, and just killed Ravana! After all this you’re just going to let them take back what belongs to us? After all we have done?!”
“I get the feeling you have another reason to want the sword” said Kiliana suddenly. Obelisk turned sharply to her but had no retort ready. She cocked a suspicious eyebrow.
The being came up and took the Gladius Crucis from Obelisk’s back. Obelisk tried to take it back, but his mortal strength made it a futile gesture. The gold chains wrapped around it once again.
“
Now we must part ways. Farewell to you all.”
A flash of blinding light, and the host was gone. Vibhishana and Sariputta too had disappeared…
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Obelisk continued to stare skyward, as though willing the beings to return and face him. Sako flopped don on the ground. “Finally! It's over!”
She turned to Ikeia. “So what are you going to do now?”
“Hmm?” Ikeia turned toward Sako, having been lost in his own thoughts.
“I..I'm not sure yet, I don't think...”
However, as uncertain as he was about himself, the Gadite made note of Ban and Israfil. They were not even of this world. Sooner or later, they would be leaving… or would they, now that they were the Judges of Simeon and Judah respectively? And what about himself? What lay in store for him after what he and Gad had done? He looked for Kiliana but turned away again when her eyes met his.
Chebar and Kira stood together looking out over the landscape. Comic watched them and thought of his wife. As Alpha reunited with Cheiron and Sarindhu, he and Alpha looked at each other for a moment. Their first encounter was not forgotten by the prophet, but with the end of the war he was willing to at least forgive. The fate of these last surviving Horu would be determined later. Pack stood by himself, also unsure of the road ahead. He remembered his promise to the ascetic that he would return to Dan and rebuild his tarnished House. He thought of the journey northward he would have to take. That itself might be an adventure… but he didn’t want to say good-bye to his companions… his friends… just yet.
He turned to look at them and caught sight of Obelisk. Yoroi too was looking at him. Something odd was happening to the Issachite. He seemed to be muttering to himself as his hands shifted around rapidly. The golden highlights in his hair faded to black and his green eyes darkened. The tremors of his arms increased as he worked, until finally the air seemed to pause and then sigh.
“Much...better...”
His eyes swirled with golden energy which, as he turned toward Yoroi and the others, was tainted with crimson for the briefest of moments.
“No matter… even without the sword I… we… can rule over you.”
“What do you mean?” asked Pack. The others now paid attention as well.
“Bring the Tribes together, is that not what we were told? Well that dovetails perfectly with our… or Obelisk’s goal: restore Issachar’s dominion over the rest. Killing Ravana himself with the sword would have made things easier, but…. Maybe this way can be more fun. I’d love the chance to really test my abilities.”
Obelisk, Shimron, or both laughed. The rest exchanged glances. In seemed there was one more affair to settle after all…
TO BE CONTINUED
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQG7dZUnNLs&feature=related"]*Ending Theme 3 plays*[/ame]
(‘Hallelujah’ by Jeff Buckley)
Next Time
*Next Episode Promo Theme 3 plays*
(‘Bandai CM Music Collection’ from
Seiju Sentai Gingaman)
Obelisk, under Shimron’s influence, threatens to bring all of Canaan under Issachar’s control with him as king; Yoroi, the Horu and the Judges must fight one more time to preserve the newfound peace.
I don't usually read Sentai stories, it's not my thing, but I like yours. It really did catch me.
. I can't bring my self to watch/read sentai for some reason but your story is an exception.
